With growth stalling, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is mulling changes that threaten to turn the burrito chain into what founder Steve Ells said it would never be: another fast-food joint.

Ells, a classically trained chef, built a cult brand by wowing diners with a tightly edited menu of sustainably sourced food and helped pioneer the “fast casual” category.

Hewing to that vision is getting harder. Last week, the Denver-based company reported profit that trailed analysts’ estimates amid slowing same-store sales growth. After the results, Ells suggested strategic changes one might expect from his counterparts at McDonald’s Corp. or Burger King Worldwide Inc. They include running more commercials that drive traffic rather than celebrate the brand, and possibly adding breakfast items and installing drive-through windows.

The proposed changes recall what happened when Starbucks Corp. began brewing bagged coffee instead of grinding beans in front of customers in stores, losing the fresh coffee aroma, said Kevin Lane Keller, a marketing professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Starbucks later returned to grinding.

“You have to be careful of the death by a thousand cuts, where you’re making a series of decisions that might have little compromises” and aren’t consistent with the brand, said Keller, who has written about Chipotle in a textbook.

While Chipotle’s new Mexican-themed food might work, Keller said a drive-through gets away from the chain’s signature production-line service, in which counter staff build burritos to customers’ specifications.

Chipotle sales growth started to slow during the second quarter. Sales at stores open at least 13 months rose 8 percent in the second quarter and 4.8 percent in the third quarter.

A customer dining at Washington’s Oceanaire restaurant noticed an unusual line at the bottom of his receipt: “Due to the rising costs of doing business in this location, including costs associated with higher minimum wage rates, a 3% surcharge has been added to your total bill.”